SMPTE to co-produce the NAB Show Technology Summit on Cinema
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.–The 2014 NAB Show’s Technology Summit on Cinema: The Future of Motion Imaging and Sound (TSC), produced in partnership with the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), will provide an in-depth global view of the current state and future of filmmaking innovation.

“As the technology that drives the motion-imaging industry evolves, SMPTE’s role as a standards developer puts it squarely in the midst of the latest innovations,” said Pat Griffis, education vice president at SMPTE. “Building on the Society’s unique role in the industry, the TSC offers NAB Show attendees a remarkable opportunity to hear from the leading-edge creatives, engineers, and technologists who are shaping the road ahead.”

Over the weekend of April 5-6, the 2014 TSC at NAB Show will bring together a unique cross-section of the most knowledgeable, visionary, and innovative engineering and creative minds to discuss leading-edge technologies and issues that will define the next generation of the movie-going experience.

The first day will feature presentations and a question-and-answer session on the human vision system and the potential impact of improved motion images, followed by the presentation of case studies documenting state-of-the-art workflows for TV and motion-picture postproduction.

Chris Cookson, who has served in senior technology executive roles at Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. and is widely considered a technical visionary in the industry, will take a look ahead with his TSC keynote, “Cinema: Act 2, The Future.” This conversation will continue through a subsequent roundtable discussion moderated by Michael Karagosian and will include Matt Cowan, chief engineer, Entertainment Technology Consultants; Rob Hummel, president, Group 47; and Howard Lukk, vice president of production technology at The Walt Disney Studios.

“From Camera to Consumer–the New Post Production” will look at both a movie and a TV workflow to understand the impact of the new world of postproduction. Panelists will include Michael Cioni, CEO at Light Iron; Phil Squyres, senior vice president of technical operations at Sony Pictures Television; and Leon Silverman, general manager, Digital Studio, at The Walt Disney Studios.

Presentations on the creation and implementation of new SMPTE standards, including the Interoperable Mastering Format (IMF) standard, will be followed by an overview and live demonstration of the laser-illuminated projector technology now being deployed in cinema installations.

On day two of the TSC, sessions will focus on “distributive creativity” in the post environment; on how new technologies are being used to enhance storytelling; and on capturing and creating a high dynamic range (HDR) cinema experience. In the latter session, speakers, including the creative team from the short “Telescope,” will discuss the visual improvements possible with extended dynamic range, as well as their impact on the creative process.

The TSC will feature a session on “Gravity,” which earned seven Oscar awards, including best visual effects, sound editing, and cinematography. Participating in the session will be Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki; Harry Bardak, CG sequence supervisor for “Gravity”; and Steven J. Scott, senior supervising digital colorist.

A second-screen panel hosted by Disney’s Annie Chang will feature an interactive look at the “Disney Second Screen Live: The Nightmare Before Christmas” iPad® app designed to enhance the viewing experience on the main screen. (The iPad v5.1+ app is available on iTunes®.) A two-part “Looking in the Crystal Ball” session will cap off the conference. Session leaders will first examine the emergence of an integrated experience of sound and image, and then provide an enticing glimpse into how movies might be photographed and displayed using new methods that seem magical by today’s standards.

EFILM installs first Baselight grading suite
LONDON–Hollywood post-production facility EFILM–a Deluxe Media Creative Services company and a long-time innovator in digital intermediate technology–has added to its toolset by installing a Baselight color grading suite from FilmLight.

The installation includes the Baselight TWO real-time grading system with Blackboard 2 control surface, and the Baselight Assist station for background rendering and processing.

One of the first projects EFILM worked on with Baselight was the recently released action adventure film “Divergent” starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet. From director Neil Burger and shot on ARRI ALEXA cameras by director of photography Alwin Küchler, BSC, the feature film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s best-selling novel was released in theatres on 21 March 2014, by Summit Entertainment, a LIONSGATE company. It grossed nearly $55 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, the second highest-grossing opening weekend of the year.

EFILM lead colurist Tom Reiser was responsible for the film’s distinctive look.  “Action adventure movies traditionally have a cool look, but Neil Burger wanted this to start out colorful and warm. There were plenty of opportunities to use Baselight to create interesting looks,” Reiser said. “There is also a plot device of going into people’s dreams, and I gave each a distinctive look with green and yellow washes. I also used the grain and degrain features within Baselight, which perform really well. Alwin Küchler also featured a lot of bold lighting with big color casts from LED lamps, which added to the tone.”

Reiser, who has been a lead colorist at EFILM since 2009, praised the system for its auto tracking tool and its inclusion of printer light emulation, which he believes is a significantly better approach to colour grading.

“The auto-tracking in real time is pretty amazing. I can put a shape on and hit area tracking and it shows me precisely what the shape is going to do. Being able to create and store my own pre-sets is also a huge benefit, as well as having the option to use a different LUT for every shot if I want to–I used five or six in ‘Divergent,’” Reiser added. “Baselight also gives me excellent secondaries with good logarithmic tracking. My overall sense is to make the images naturalistic, and Baselight allows me to achieve what I am looking for.”

Wolfgang Lempp, co-founder of FilmLight, added: “We are very excited by our first installation at EFILM. As a digital intermediate facility, EFILM is legendary in leading the way and we are delighted to be playing our part, working with top colorists like Tom and on major movies such as ‘Divergent.’”

CJ 4DPlex signs with AEG to bring 4DX Technology to U.S.
LOS ANGELES–CJ 4DPlex, the world’s first 4D cinema company for feature films, announced at CinemaCon that they have signed a deal with AEG to bring 4DX technology to a movie theatre in the United States for the first time. After an incredible expansion to several countries in the world including Japan, Taiwan, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, United Arab Emirates and many others, this cinema experience is coming first to the entertainment capital of the world when it premieres its first blockbuster film this summer exclusively in the AEG-owned the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14 theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

Movie goers can expect an immersive 4D experience to excite all five human senses. Features include motion, wind, strobe, fog, vibration, mist, rain and even scent-based special effects that go far beyond 3D, 4DX offers a complete visual, aural, olfactory and tactile experience to the latest blockbusters, and lends itself perfectly to high-action movies.

“Los Angeles was the natural choice for the first U.S. location to carry 4DX. We wanted to bring this experience to where all the movie magic happens,” said Byung Hwan Choi, CEO of CJ 4DPlex. “With AEG, owner and host of the world’s most exciting entertainment venues as our strategic partner, we are very much looking forward to welcoming our audiences to a movie-going experience never before seen in the U.S. as befits the state-of-the-art theaters at L.A. LIVE!”

Since debuting with a 4D screening of “Avatar” in 2010, more than 14,000 4DX seats are now operating in 91 theatres in 23 countries–opening on approximately one new screen every two weeks as theatres recognize the power of being able to offer a wider range of formats and experiences to moviegoers.  In fact, in 2013 alone, 4DX was installed for the first time in 14 countries–Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Poland, Taiwan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela–with 47 new screens compared with 13 openings in 2012.

Spain’s Atresmedia outfits new HD Studio with Grass Valley Solutions
HILLSBORO, Ore.–Atresmedia, a leading TV and media group in Spain, is outfitting its new HD studio with several live production solutions from Grass Valley including the powerful Karrera Video Production Center switcher with K-Frame, as well as a K2 Dyno Replay System. Atresmedia operates eight on-air channels that deliver news, magazines, entertainment shows, top quality TV series and movies to millions of viewers across Spain. This new solution from Grass Valley will enable Atresmedia to double its on-air studio production capabilities and make its current workflow more consistent and smooth. The broadcaster expects its new TV studio to be fully operational by April 2014.

“The concept of our new studio design is based on an architecture of centralized production resources such as studio cameras, video servers, graphics, switchers and Digital Video Effects (DVE),” explained Raul Lorenzo, head of broadcast engineering & technical support, Atresmedia. “We listed quality and dependability as our most important factors when selecting a solution. A few months ago, Grass Valley loaned us a Karrera switcher, and we were satisfied with its easy-to-use features—such as its intuitive control panel and touchscreen side panel. We were able to trial for ourselves that it really offers the high-end features we expect from Grass Valley, but at a mid-market switcher price.”

The lightweight Karrera with K-Frame, delivers a modular approach to production switchers. It encompasses an intuitive, easy-to-learn control panel, touchscreen side panel interface, and delivers full 3G 1080p50/60 HD support while drawing less power than other switchers in its class. The Karrera gives Atresmedia considerably more production flexibility and power to manage its various TV channels. With K-Frame, Atresmedia can benefit from greater macro flexibility and features like internal video clip storage and playback, as well as a M/E multi-previewer function.

Further simplifying Atresmedia’s overall operation is the K2 Dyno Replay System, which provides a comprehensive set of live production replay tools that are seamlessly integrated for use in nonlinear, file-based production environments. K2 Dyno offers a more streamlined and familiar workflow, with the ability to work in tandem with other members of Grass Valley’s K2 family of products.

“Switching and replay technology are key to the successful function of any broadcast environment, and we’re pleased to have provided such an established company like Atresmedia with the necessary tools it needs to deliver a more paralleled workflow,” said Said Bacho, Senior Vice President, EMEA, Grass Valley. “Grass Valley has a very strong position in Europe, and Spain is undoubtedly a key area of growth for the region. So it’s exciting to see Grass Valley solutions being used in projects like this.”

Google Glass to feature Ray-Ban, Oakley frames
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is hoping to make its Internet-connected eyewear more stylish as part of a partnership with the makers of Ray-Ban and Oakley frames.

The alliance with Italian eyewear company Luxottica Group announced Monday represents Google’s latest attempt to make wearable technology look less geeky as it tries to develop new ways to ensure people can stay connected to the Internet wherever they go. Last week, Google disclosed that fashion accessory maker Fossil Group is working on an Internet-connected wristwatch that runs Google’s Android software for mobile devices.

Luxottica will develop frames equipped with Google Glass, a computing device that includes a thumbnail-sized screen above the wearer’s right eye to view Internet content. The $1,500 gadget also includes a camera that can take hands-free pictures and video, a feature that has raised privacy concerns.

Google Inc. so far has only sold Glass to a select group of test subjects known as “Explorers,” who have frequently been mocked for wearing a piece of futuristic eyewear that looks better-suited for cyborgs than for humans.

Luxottica is expected to help broaden Glass’ appeal. Google is also planning to tap into the more than 5,000 stores that Luxottica runs in the U.S. to help sell Glass once the device is released on the general market.

Google still hasn’t spelled out when Glass will be broadly available, although the Mountain View, Calif., company is still aiming for later this year.

More than 10,000 people have bought Glass as part of the Explorer program.

In another move to make Glass more practical, Google in January unveiled four frame styles that could also be outfitted with prescription lenses. Those frames cost an additional $225.

The prices for Luxottica’s line-up of Google Glass products won’t be announced until they are closer to going on sale. Besides Ray-Ban and Oakley, Luxottica’s other brands include Vogue-Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Alain Mikli and Arnette.

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